Milan who could only draw 1-1 at Torino are seven points clear of

Milan, who could only draw 1-1 at Torino, are seven points clear of Juventus with three matches to play.Atletico Madrid took a major step towards their first Spanish League title in 19 years with a vital 3-1 victory at their nearest rivals, Barcelona, on Saturday.Goals by Lyuboslav Penev, Juan Vizcaino and Leonardo Biagini put them six points clear of Barcelona with just five games left to play.Auxerre extended their lead at the top of the French League to two points with a 1-1 draw against Bastia but they could be overtaken tomorrow when Paris St-Germain play the bottom club Martigues.. Their substitute, Nordin Wooter, who scored the third goal in Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Panathinaikos which took Ajax into the European Cup final, secured the win with a goal in injury time. With two matches to go, Ajax lead the table by five points from PSV Eindhoven, who beat NEC Nijmegen 1-0 on Saturday.
Feyenoord beat lowly Fortuna Sittard 1-0 at home thanks to a penalty by the former international defender Ronald Koeman and look set to secure a place in next season’s Uefa Cup.Juventus, Ajax’s opponents in European Cup final, kept Milan waiting at least another week for their fourth title in five years by winning 2-1 at Internazionale on Saturday. Ajax Amsterdam moved closer to their third consecutive Dutch League title with a 4-3 victory at Groningen yesterday. Referee: F Stretton (Nottingham).Man of the match: Saville.Attendance: 5,170..

Was he thinking, “With a bit of investment, that could be us?”Goals: Saville (11) 0-1; Saville (61) 0-2.Leyton Orient (3-5-2): Caldwell; Kelly, McCarthy, Arnott; Hendon, Chapman (Lakin, 73), Cockerill, Brooks, Austin (Baker, 62); West, Berry. Substitute not used: Warren.Preston North End (4-4-2): Vaughan; Sparrow, Moyes, Wilcox, Barrick; Gage, Davey, Bryson, Kilbane (Bennett, 89); Saville, Wilkinson Substitutes not used: Lucas (gk), Kidd. Already Alvin Martin has been sounded out, but, Holland said, “We need six of seven experienced lads, where are they going to come from? Preston are ambitious. How ambitious are we?”When asked if his team, listening to Preston’s celebrations, were saying, “That will be us next year”, he laughed wryly and replied: “Many of them won’t be here next year.”More pertinent will have been Hearn’s thoughts, as he watched Preston fans celebrating on the pitch and exchanged handshakes with them. There is, says Hearn, no money for transfers and manager Pat Holland will be scouring the retained lists.

The public address must be one of the best in the country while the latest, extraordinary scheme, is a national lottery syndicate, paid for by the fans, with wins split 50-50 between club and fans.But attendances have slipped from more than 8,000 to less than 3,000 (Saturday’s was doubled by the Preston contingent). The ambitious “Orient 2,000″ plan, incorporating an arts centre, cinema, sports hall, bowls club and health centre appears to be no more than a felt-tipped plan on the ticket office wall.The team play a neat passing game, centred on Shaun Brooks and Glenn Cockerill, but are weak where it matters, in the two boxes. Since Barry Hearn took over at Brisbane Road there has been a lot of talk but little visible achievement. The team are heading for their worst ever league placing and local gratitude at Hearn saving the club is turning to resentment.There are signs of progress commercially, the amount of advertising and sponsorship in the programme is surely down to Hearn’s influence.

They have dreams but you have to say to them, `Stop dreaming and start doing’.”Read it and weep, Orient fans. We have got the base that Wimbledon, or Norwich, will never have. A lot of lapsed supporters go to watch Blackburn as they can see Premiership football, but if we were in the First Division they would watch us.”A lot of third division clubs do not have the vision and resources to plan ahead. There is a population of 250,000 in Preston and the surrounding area. “We have taken the risk and made the effort but the club is already paying its way.”Certain clubs have potential.

Preston is a football town, we have won cups and championships. “Commercial Union have just bought five per cent, which shows people are investing because they believe in what we are doing, not just because they are Preston fans.”Baxi still hold the majority, 65 per cent and have put in more than pounds 2m “Baxi should not lose any money on it,” said Gray. Gary Bennett’s pounds 200,000 deadline signing from Tranmere brought spending close to pounds 1m on players – a huge sum at this level The results are obvious. There is an experienced spine running through the side and, in Andy Saville and Simon Wilkinson, a forward pairing which would be a handful in the Second Division.Saville scored twice on Saturday, taking his season’s total to 28.